Historical anniversaries are great for “On This Day in History” features and anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with readers and viewers, editors and producers love them, they’re easy to research, and you can easily turn them into newspaper and magazine articles, films, TV/radio/theatre shows, and more.
Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries coming up in May 2021 (so you have time to write about them!)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2021. You’ll find hundreds more in the book. The 2022 edition is also available.
1 May 1941 – 80 years ago
The U.S. première of Orson Welles’s award-winning film Citizen Kane.
(Released: 5th September. UK première: 12th October, released: 24th January 1942.)
2 to 4 May 1946 – 75 years ago
The Battle of Alcatraz. Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay, California, USA was taken over by prisoners after a failed escape attempt. A violent battle ensued.
3 May 1921 – 100 years ago
Ireland was divided into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (now the Republic of Ireland).
4 May 1896 – 125 years ago
The first edition of the Daily Mail newspaper was published in the UK.
5 May 1821 – 200 years ago
Death of Napoleon I (Napoleon Bonaparte), Emperor of France (1804 – 14, 1815).
(Died from stomach cancer while in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, aged 51.)
6 May 1941 – 80 years ago
Joseph Stalin became Premier of the Soviet Union.
7 May 1946 – 75 years ago
Sony, the Japanese electronics company, was founded (as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation).
8 May 1721 – 300 years ago
Innocent XIII became Pope.
9 May to 8 Aug 1896 – 125 years ago
The world’s first motor show was held at the Imperial Institute in London.
10 May 1941 – 80 years ago
World War II: The last major attack on London during the Blitz caused heavy damage to many important buildings, including the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James’s Palace and Lambeth Palace, several railway stations and hospitals, the British Museum and the Old Bailey. More than 1,300 people were killed.
11 May 1931 – 90 years ago
Austria’s largest bank, Creditanstalt, declared itself bankrupt, sending shockwaves across Europe. It was one of the major bank failures that initiated the Great Depression. It was rescued by the German Chancellor.
12 May 1941 – 80 years ago
German engineer Konrad Zuse completed his Z3 computer and presented it to an audience of scientists in Berlin. It is now recognised as the world’s first fully functional programmable digital computer. (No one outside of Germany was aware of its existence, so it had no influence on computer development in the UK or USA).
13 May 1981 – 40 years ago
Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously injured by a Turkish gunman in an assassination attempt in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City.
14 May 1771 – 250 years ago
Birth of Robert Owen, Welsh textile manufacturer and social reformer. A founder of the cooperative movement. Best known for his efforts to improve working conditions in his textile mill, and for his promotion of experimental utopian societies.
15 May 1921 – 100 years ago
The Royal British Legion was founded.
16 May 1946 – 75 years ago
The musical Annie Get Your Gun opened on Broadway.
17 May 1996 – 25 years ago
Megan’s Law came into effect in the USA. The public must be notified if dangerous sex offenders are released into their community.
18 May 1991 – 30 years ago
Helen Sharman became the first British citizen to travel into space. She responded to an advertisement to become the first British astronaut, was selected on live TV, spent 18 months training, and then spent a week on the Soviet Union’s Mir space station.
19 May 1961 – 60 years ago
The Soviet space probe Venera 1 became the first man-made object to fly past another planet, passing within 62,000 miles (100,000 km) of Venus.
20 May 1996 – 25 years ago
Oil-for-food programme, Iraq. The United Nations agreed to allow Iraq to sell up to $2 billion worth of oil to buy humanitarian supplies.
21 May 1991 – 30 years ago
Death of Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (1984–89). (Assassinated.)
22 May 1981 – 40 years ago
British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe (the “Yorkshire Ripper”) was convicted of murdering 13 women and sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge labelled him “an unusually dangerous man”. He is one of the few prisoners to be given a whole life tariff, meaning he will never be released.
23 May 1951 – 70 years ago
China annexed Tibet after pressuring Tibetan negotiators to sign a 17-point agreement – which many argue they had no real authority to sign and is therefore invalid. The Tibetan Government remained in place, but was dissolved in 1959 following an uprising that forced the Dalai Lama into exile. Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965.
24 May 1956 – 65 years ago
The first Eurovision Song Contest was held, in Lugano, Switzerland, and was won by Switzerland.
25 May 1961 – 60 years ago
US President John F. Kennedy gave his famous “man on the moon” speech. He urged Congress and America to commit itself to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade.
26 May 1896 – 125 years ago
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was published for the first time in the Wall Street Journal.
27 May 1941 – 80 years ago
World War II: the British Royal Navy sank the German battleship Bismarck off France. More than 2,000 crew were killed.
28 May 1951 – 70 years ago
The first episode of the radio comedy series The Goon Show was broadcast in the UK. (The first series was called Crazy People.)
29 May 2001 – 20 years ago
A jury in New York, USA convicted 4 followers of Osama bin Laden of the 1998 bombing to two US embassies in Africa, which killed 224 people. (They were sentenced to life imprisonment. This was the first conviction in relation to Osama bin Laden’s terrorism activities.)
30 May 1846 – 175 years ago
Birth of Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweller. Best known for his Fabergé eggs.
31 May 1821 – 200 years ago
Baltimore Basilica in Maryland was dedicated. It was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the USA.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2021. The 2022 edition is also available if you need to work further ahead. Find out more at ideas4writers.com.